"Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no theatrical connections, but Olivier's father, a clergyman, decided that his son should become an actor. After attending a drama school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of"
"Laurence Olivier on stage and screen Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. From 1935 he performed in radio broadcasts and, from 1956, had considerable success in television roles. After attending drama school, Olivier began his professional career with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband, Lewis Casson, as a bit-part player, understudy and assistant stage manager for their London"
"actor Laurence Olivier, would be granted a life peerage in 1970 as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in East Sussex. Four daughters were born to the couple:<br> Hon. Margery Olivier (1886–1974), Hon. Brynhild Olivier (20 May 1887 – 13 January 1935), Hon. Daphne Olivier (1889 – 14 Jul 1950) and Hon. Noël Olivier (1893–1969). They were prominent in the Cambridge and Bloomsbury social circles around Rupert Brooke and in what Virginia Woolf dubbed the Neo-Pagans. After his death, his wife Margaret edited and published his letters and other writings. Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier Sydney Haldane Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier, (16"
"the 15 productions in which he also appeared, which are shown in the table above. All the productions shown were for BBC radio. Notes References Laurence Olivier on stage and screen Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. From 1935 he performed in radio broadcasts and, from 1956, had considerable success in television roles. After attending drama school, Olivier began his professional career with small touring companies before"
"and Laurence Olivier he dominated the English stage for several decades from the 1930s. He was particularly noted for his beautiful speaking voice and his mastery of Shakespearean verse. Later in his career he made more than sixty films. He was a son of Kate Terry-Lewis and Frank Gielgud, and his brothers were Val and Lewis (below). Lieut-Col Lewis Evelyn Gielgud (1894–1953) was a son of Kate Terry-Lewis and Frank Gielgud. He was the elder brother of Val and John (below and above) and became a senior figure in the Red Cross and UNESCO. He also wrote two novels, ""Red"
"Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the British actor Laurence Olivier in 1984. The awards are given to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Olivier"
"when Laurence Olivier sought him out to adapt the William Shakespeare play ""Hamlet"" into a film, Cushing's wife Helen pushed him to pursue a role. Far from being deterred by Cushing's unsuccessful audition the year before, Olivier remembered the actor well and was happy to cast him, but the only character left unfilled was the relatively small part of the foppish courtier Osric. Cushing accepted the role, and ""Hamlet"" (1948) marked his British film debut. One of Cushing's primary scenes involved Osric talking to Hamlet and Horatio while walking down a wide stone spiral stairway. The set provided technical difficulties,"
"screen appearance was as an elderly, wheelchair-bound soldier in Derek Jarman's 1989 film ""War Requiem"". After being ill for the last 22 years of his life, Olivier died of renal failure on 11 July 1989 aged 82 at his home near Steyning, West Sussex. His cremation was held three days later; his ashes were buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey during a memorial service in October that year. Olivier was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 1947 Birthday Honours for services to the stage and to films. A life peerage followed in the 1970 Birthday Honours for services to the"
"Oliver (paladin) Oliver (in Italian: ""Uliviero"" or ""Oliviero""), sometimes referred to as Olivier de Vienne or de Gennes, is a fictional knight in the Matter of France ""chansons de geste"", especially the French epic ""The Song of Roland"". In the tradition, he was Roland's closest friend, advisor, and confidant, one of Charlemagne's twelve peers and brother of Aude, Roland's betrothed; and he dies at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass with Roland. Some critics have linked his name to the olive tree, a biblical symbol of divine wisdom. Whereas the portrayal of Roland is commonly seen as recklessly courageous, Oliver was"
"Edith Olivier Edith Maud Olivier MBE (31 December 1872 – 10 May 1948) was an English writer, also noted for acting as hostess to a circle of well-known writers, artists, and composers in her native Wiltshire. Olivier was born in Wilton, of Huguenot stock, her father being Canon of Wilton, and her mother the daughter of a bishop. She was one of ten children. After receiving schooling at home, Olivier went up to St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1895, but completed only four terms before leaving because of asthma. She was related to the actor Laurence Olivier through her paternal"
"End"" became a long-running success; ""Beau Geste"" failed. ""The Manchester Guardian"" commented, ""Mr. Laurence Olivier did his best as Beau, but he deserves and will get better parts. Mr. Olivier is going to make a big name for himself"". For the rest of 1929 Olivier appeared in seven plays, all of which were short-lived. Billington ascribes this failure rate to poor choices by Olivier rather than mere bad luck. In 1930, with his impending marriage in mind, Olivier earned some extra money with small roles in two films. In April he travelled to Berlin to film the English-language version of"
"Herbert Arnould Olivier Herbert Arnould Olivier, R.I. (9 September 1861 – 2 March 1952), was a British artist, best known for his portrait and landscape paintings. He was an uncle of Laurence Olivier. Olivier was born in Battle, East Sussex, England, where his father Henry Arnold Olivier was a clergyman. His brothers were Henry (1850–1935), who had a military career, ending as a colonel; Sydney (the father of Noël and Daphne), who became Governor of Jamaica and later Secretary of State for India; and Gerard (1869–1939), a clergyman (the father of Laurence Olivier). He also had four sisters. Olivier was"
"from a long line of Protestant clergymen. Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster, but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England. He practised extremely high church, ritualist Anglicanism and liked to be addressed as ""Father Olivier"". This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations, and the only church posts he was offered were temporary, usually deputising for regular incumbents in their absence. This meant a nomadic existence, and for Laurence's first few years, he never lived in one place long enough to make friends."
"to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He later received Oscar nominations for roles in ""Richard III"" (1955), ""The Entertainer"" (1960), ""Othello"" (1965), ""Sleuth"" (1972), ""Marathon Man"" (1976) and ""The Boys from Brazil"" (1978). In 1979 he was also presented with an Honorary Award, at the Academy Awards, to recognise his lifetime of contribution to the art of film. He was nominated for nine other acting Oscars and one each for production and direction. Throughout his career Olivier appeared in radio dramas and poetry readings, and made his television debut in 1956. During the making of the 1983 movie"
"Laurence Olivier, directed by Peter Wood. On 2 September 1966 Barker married the actor Anthony Hopkins at St Mary's, Stalisfield, and they have one daughter, the actress and singer-songwriter Abigail Hopkins, born in 1969. They were divorced in the High Court, London, in 1972. Petronella Barker (actress, born 1942) Petronella Barker (born 12 October 1942 in Sittingbourne, Kent) is an English actress. The daughter of the late comedy actor Eric Barker and the actress Pearl Hackney, she grew up in the village of Stalisfield, Kent, and was educated at Ashford School. Barker trained at the Central School of Speech and"
"uncertain whether he would be able to do the film. Richard Widmark auditioned for the part, but Olivier eventually recovered and was able to participate in filming. Reportedly, Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman did not get along well during filming. Olivier did not agree with Hoffman's style of Method Acting, which involved staying up days at a time in order to appear truly out of his mind and in physical pain for the film's famous torture scenes. ""My dear boy,"" Olivier is remembered as saying, ""why don't you just try acting?"" ""Marathon Man"" was the second feature film production in"
"""The Temporary Widow"", a crime comedy with Lilian Harvey, and in May he spent four nights working on another comedy, ""Too Many Crooks"". During work on the latter film, for which he was paid £60, he met Laurence Evans, who became his personal manager. Olivier did not enjoy working in film, which he dismissed as ""this anaemic little medium which could not stand great acting"", but financially it was much more rewarding than his theatre work. Olivier and Esmond married on 25 July 1930 at All Saints, Margaret Street, although within weeks both realised they had erred. Olivier later recorded"
"Laurence Olivier took the role in a 1983 TV production for Granada Television. It was his last screen appearance in a Shakespearean role, its pathos deriving in part from the physical frailty of Olivier the actor. In 1985 a major screen adaptation of the play appeared: ""Ran"", directed by Akira Kurosawa. At the time the most expensive Japanese film ever made, it tells the story of Hidetora, a fictional 16th-century Japanese warlord, whose attempt to divide his kingdom among his three sons leads to an estrangement with the youngest, and ultimately most loyal, of them, and eventually to civil war."
"In an interview with Melvyn Bragg in the early 1980s, the British actor Laurence Olivier said that Disney's Big Bad Wolf was supposedly based on a widely detested American theatre director and producer called Jed Harris. When Olivier produced a film version of Shakespeare's ""Richard III"", he based some of his mannerisms on Harris, and his physical appearance on the wolf. The short was so popular that Walt Disney produced several sequels, which also featured the Wolf as the villain. The first of them was named after him: ""The Big Bad Wolf"", also directed by Burt Gillett and first released"
"would retain the services of Anthony Quayle, who had essayed the role of Wyke in London and on Broadway. Alan Bates was Shaffer’s pick for the part of Milo Tindle. In the end, director Mankiewicz opted for Olivier and Caine. When they met, Caine asked Olivier how he should address him. Olivier told him that it should be as ""Lord Olivier"", and added that now that that was settled he could call him ""Larry"". According to Shaffer, Olivier stated that when filming began he looked upon Caine as an assistant, but that by the end of filming he regarded him"
"Herbert, a successful portrait painter, and Gerard (1869–1939), a clergyman (the father of Laurence). During Olivier's youth, the family spent time at Lausanne and Kineton, and at Poulshott in Wiltshire, where Henry Olivier was rector. Sydney Olivier was sent to Tonbridge School, and then studied philosophy and theology at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. At Oxford he became a close friend of Graham Wallas, who came from a similar background. After graduation Olivier resisted family pressure to train as a barrister and instead sat the competitive examination for the Civil Service. He came first, beating Sidney Webb into second place. Olivier"
"he was contacted by the director John Schlesinger, who offered him the role of a Nazi torturer in the 1976 film ""Marathon Man"". Olivier shaved his pate and wore oversized glasses to enlarge the look of his eyes, in a role that the critic David Robinson, writing for ""The Times"", thought was ""strongly played"", adding that Olivier was ""always at his best in roles that call for him to be seedy or nasty or both"". Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and won the Golden Globe of the same category. In the"
"Make-up. In the US Olivier received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. The series has been released on both VHS and DVD format. Lost Empires Lost Empires is a 1986 television miniseries adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel of the same name and starred Colin Firth, John Castle and Laurence Olivier. Produced by Granada Television, it was shown as a serial, and premiered on the UK's ITV network in October and November 1986. After the death of his mother, Richard Herncastle (Colin Firth) is offered a job by his uncle, his mother's"
"visitor to the couple’s home in London and became godfather to their son Laurence. She died in 1950 of cancer. Daphne Olivier Daphne Olivier (1889 - 14 July 1950) was the third daughter of the British politician Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier, and Margaret Cox; she was the sister of Margery (1886–1974), Brynhild (1887–1935) and Noël (1893–1969) and the first cousin of the actor Laurence Olivier (1907-1989). She established the first Rudolf Steiner school in England. Daphne studied Medieval and Modern Languages at Newnham College, Cambridge and, together with her sisters Bryn and Noël, belonged to the circle around Rupert"
"his hair stood on end but he was intensely lively and great fun"". By his own admission, he was not a very conscientious student, but Fogerty liked him and later said that he and Ashcroft stood out among her many pupils. On leaving the school after a year, Olivier gained work with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband Lewis Casson as a bit-part player, understudy and assistant stage manager for their London company. He modelled his performing style on that of Gerald du Maurier, of whom he said, ""He seemed to"
"has continued in recent years, and the ceremony has also been broadcast on Magic Radio. Some notable records and facts about the Laurence Olivier Awards include the following: Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the British actor Laurence Olivier in 1984. The awards are given to individuals involved in West"
"Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier Sydney Haldane Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier, (16 April 1859 – 15 February 1943) was a British civil servant. A Fabian and a member of the Labour Party, he served as Governor of Jamaica and as Secretary of State for India in the first government of Ramsay MacDonald. He was the uncle of the actor Laurence Olivier. Olivier was born in Colchester, the second of eight children of Anne Elizabeth Hardcastle (""née"" Arnould) and the Reverend Henry Arnold Olivier, a stern Anglican. His brothers included Henry (1850–1935), who had a military career ending as a colonel,"
"in Weybridge, Surrey, England, aged 89, from heart failure after an unspecified illness. Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016), known as Frank Finlay, was an English stage, film and television actor. He was Oscar-nominated for his supporting role in Olivier's 1965 film of ""Othello"" and got his first leading role on television in 1971 as ""Casanova"", which led to appearances on ""The Morecambe and Wise Show"". He also appeared in the controversial drama ""Bouquet of Barbed Wire"". Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Josiah Finlay, a butcher, and Margaret Finlay. He was"
"by Laurence Olivier and Jeremy Isaacs as the producer. He continued to write regular leaders for ""The Guardian"" until his death in 1981. On 12 January 1955, he married Valentine Harriet Isobel Dione Mitchison (b. 1930), also a journalist, daughter of the Labour politician Dick Mitchison and the novelist Naomi Mitchison. Both were related to successive secretaries of state for war, Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster and R. B. Haldane. They had five children: three sons and two daughters. Mark Arnold-Forster suffered from persistent ill health in his fifties, in particular a series of minor strokes. In 1979, he developed cancer of"
"Victor Hugo's ""Notre-Dame de Paris"", under the name of Olivier le Mauvais (the Evil). Olivier le Daim Olivier le Daim (born Olivier de Neckere; ca. 1428 – May 21, 1484), was a French favourite courtier and close advisor of Louis XI of France. He was born of humble parentage at Tielt in Flanders. His original surname was ""de Neckere"", that in Flemish mean ""evil spirit"", giving him the nickname of """"Olivier le Mauvais"""" (""Olivier the Wicked""). Seeking his fortune at Paris, he became court barber and valet to Louis XI, and so ingratiated himself with the king that in 1474"
"Daphne Olivier Daphne Olivier (1889 - 14 July 1950) was the third daughter of the British politician Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier, and Margaret Cox; she was the sister of Margery (1886–1974), Brynhild (1887–1935) and Noël (1893–1969) and the first cousin of the actor Laurence Olivier (1907-1989). She established the first Rudolf Steiner school in England. Daphne studied Medieval and Modern Languages at Newnham College, Cambridge and, together with her sisters Bryn and Noël, belonged to the circle around Rupert Brooke, that Virginia Woolfe named the Neo-Pagans, as well as forming part of the circle of friends of John Maynard"
"Jennifer Barnes in January 2013. ""I didn't believe it because I knew it wasn't supposed to exist"". However, the screenplays had in fact been fully catalogued and accessible at the British Library since shortly after their acquisition. Macbeth (unfinished film) A film of Macbeth with Laurence Olivier in the lead and directing was one project for which Olivier was ultimately unable to gain financing. After making ""Richard III"" (1955), Olivier wanted to film ""Macbeth"", with himself in the title role and Vivien Leigh as his Lady. The Oliviers had performed together in the two roles on stage in a production"
"especially in the difference in vowel sounds made by MacArthur. During filming, the makeup process for Olivier took two and a half hours, but after it was complete, he thought he neither looked like himself nor like General MacArthur. The 72-year-old Olivier, who had been in poor health for years, suffered during filming in Seoul because of the summer heat. Director Terence Young recalled that between takes Olivier lay on a cot, virtually immobile with pain and exhaustion, but that when needed ""he dropped fifty years and stepped forward without complaint"". Richard Roundtree, known for the title role in the"